Helen Strong Carter (1866–1945) wasFirst Lady of theTerritory of Hawaii from 1903 to 1907. Her philanthropic activities included the establishment of the Strong-Carter Dental Clinic atPalama Settlement in Hawaii, and theStrong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York.

Helen Strong Carter
First Lady of theTerritory of Hawaii
In office 1903–1907
Governor	George R. Carter
Preceded by	Anna Prentice Cate Dole
Succeeded by	Mary Dillingham Frear
Personal details
Born	Helen Strong (1866-03-11)March 11, 1866 Rochester, New York
Died	May 28, 1945(1945-05-28) (aged 79) San Francisco
Spouse(s)	George R. Carter (1892–1933;his death) Jean de Saint Cyr (div.)
Children	Four

She was born inRochester, New York, on March 11, 1866, to the co-founder and first president ofEastman Kodak,Henry A. Strong (1838–1919) and his first wife Helen Phoebe Griffin (1839–1904). The family had one daughter besides Helen, Gertrude Strong Achilles, and two sonsHenry Griffin Strong and Herbert Strong who died in infancy.^[1] On April 19, 1892, she marriedGeorge R. Carter in Rochester, the son of Hawaii diplomatHenry A. P. Carter.^[2] The couple returned to live in Hawaii in 1893, and had three daughters and one son: Elizabeth, Phoebe, another daughter who died in 1903, and George Robert Jr.^[3]

Her husband was appointed the secondTerritorial Governor of Hawaii for the term November 23, 1903 – August 15, 1907. Governor Carter died in 1933, and Helen remarried toJean de Saint Cyr in April 1939.^[4] They divorced in 1940, and she resumed using the Carter name.^[5]

The dental hygiene program at theUniversity of Hawaii, and the Honolulu Dental Infirmary, with her husband George as president, were established with endowments from Helen in memory of her parents. Both Helen and her husband served on the board of directors.^[6] In addition to providing dental care and dental hygiene education to the public, the School of Dental Hygiene was established to train young women for careers as dental hygienists.^[7] The school was opened in 1920 at Palama Settlement in the Kalihi area, and the first year focused on 1st- and 2nd-grade students. The first meeting of the board of directors in July 1921 reported that, with the clinic only open one day a week with a hygienist and dentist, they had treated 1168 patients.^[8][9] The clinic was later renamed as the Strong-Carter Dental Clinic. On the 20th anniversary of the clinic, her generosity in establishing the clinic was honored by 20,000 children atHonolulu Stadium. The festivities included a performance by theRoyal Hawaiian Band and thePresident William McKinley High SchoolReserve Officers' Training Corps.^[10]

In 1922, Helen and her sister Gertrude were the only two members of their immediate family remaining when they honored their parents with a $1,000,000 donation towards the building fund for theStrong Memorial Hospital at theUniversity of Rochester in New York.^[11] Their donation was part of a total of $15,091,671 in individual gifts for the construction.^[12]

Helen Strong Carter died in California on May 28, 1945.^[13]

• Fitch, Charles E. (1916).Encyclopedia of Biography of New York, a Life Record of Men and Women Whose Sterling Character and Energy and Industry Have Made Them Preëminent in Their Own and Many Other States. The American historical society, inc. – viaHathiTrust.

• Helen Strong Carter atFind a Grave